Fictionalizing the Right

^[1]825 words

Steve Lizek
Hermann muss fallen
Dortmund: Sturmzeichen-Verlag, 2020

The present is bleak, which may be the reason why most fictional stories by authors from the dissident Right are set either in the mythological and/or historical past (Ash Donaldson is the best example) or in the future, often depicting a bleak, dystopian future that our heroes and heroines have to navigate and ultimately help to improve — from The Turner Diaries to Charity’s Blade ^[2]. Very few stories that I know of — please let me know in the comments if you have any recommendations! — are actually set in the present. An anonymous German author published a novel entitled Rebellische Herzen (Rebellious Hearts) in 2020, for example, which is a solid read, but suffers from a general tendency I observe in “the genre”: It is more a manifesto than a story, featuring long monologues about nationalist tenets and philosophies.

Spencer J. Quinn’s The No College Club ^[5] is a successful example of how to write a good White Nationalist story. There is also Steve Lizek’s Hermann muss fallen (Hermann Must Fall). Even though it is technically set in the future (see?), it’s a very near future that we can all recognize as an almost-present. Hermann muss fallen is not without its flaws; its weird antifa killer is the worst cliché you can think of, and I’m really not a fan of all the unnecessary sexual stuff that doesn’t advance the story at all. That is my main complaint about Serpent’s Walk ^[6], too, by the way. But all in all, Hermann muss fallen has all the ingredients of an entertaining and uplifting story.

Wolfgang Staubs, a Chief Inspector for economic crime in Detmold, Germany, returns home from work one night to find that his wife has taken their children and left him — because she has learned of “his plan.” Staubs panics but decides to proceed anyway. That is the excellent set-up for what is to come. The reader only finds out what it is really going on at the end of the book. In the meantime, we can never be sure if Wolfgang Staubs is genuine or a mole.

Staubs then contacts Aegir Strauss, a businessman and leading figure in the Westphalian Right. He outs himself as a sympathizer and asks for Strauss’ help: An informant has leaked plans by the local authorities to tear down the Hermann monument ^[7] as a nationalist symbol and build a Muslim pilgrimage center in its place.

At this point we know the story must be set in a very near future, because the idea doesn’t seem at all ridiculous.

Despite his misgivings about working with the police, Strauss starts to organize the resistance. Meanwhile in Saxony, at the other end of Germany, young Right-wing politician Alex Kurz — I suspect the author based him loosely on Austrian ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz — has secured a huge win in the recent elections, and now has to negotiate his party’s place in the new state parliament in order to gain as much influence as possible on its politics. But the establishment refuses to give up power that easily.

Two of Kurz’s friends from “the scene,” Sven Behrens and Leon Kielwinkel, are ambushed by antifa thugs and find themselves in the hospital, where we are introduced to the story’s main heroine: Michelle, a dedicated, clever, and, if necessary, tough nurse. Of course she becomes Sven’s love interest. The three of them end up with friends in Detmold, just as the Hermann protests erupt in violent street fights between the Left and the Right.

The plot follows the three very different but interconnected battles for nothing less than the future of Germany, as embodied in the Hermann monument: the political battle that Alex Kurz and his party are fighting; the “virtual” battle of propaganda and communication that Aegir Strauss, Wolfgang Staubs, and their “Nazi nerds” are waging; and the physical battle to preserve the Hermann monument in which Sven, Leon, Michelle, and their friends are taking part.

Hermann muss fallen is a fast-paced, entertaining novel with very likeable characters and a good deal of German pride. Even though Lizek’s style is sometimes — actually, quite often — a bit cheap, it’s fine for a first attempt. What I especially appreciate is his portrayal of women, who, aside from Michelle’s colleague, who is straight out of a 1990s American television series for a female audience, come across as real human beings. Svea is a young wife and mother with great inner strength; Aegir’s secretary and confidant Matilda is an older and experienced maternal figure who saves the day more than once, and Michelle is right by Sven’s side as an equal partner.

Steve Lizek leaves enough loose ends for a potential sequel, but I think the ending is fine as it is. There’s no miracle solution; just a lot of hard work, planning, sacrifice, and a bit of luck that lead to a temporary peace. Perhaps that is the best we can hope for under the circumstances.

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